


The Raft

by Esselle



Series: Heart of the Jungle [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jungle, Cat Ownership, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Married Jungle Life, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 14:43:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13929234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esselle/pseuds/Esselle
Summary: 'Hinata still looked surprised. But he took Tobio's hands in his much smaller ones, rubbing the grass ring Tobio was wearing with his finger."We'remarried, Tobio," he said.Tobio knew this. He didn't understand why that mattered. "I still wanted to do something special," he said. "Something you'd like."Hinata's eyes lit up warm and soft. It began to seem like a much better idea again, when he leaned up to kiss Tobio. It was one of his very gentle kisses, the kind that meant Hinata had been reminded of how good Tobio was, too."I do like it," he said. "Let's go on a date, jungle boy." '--The jungle can be a very classy date spot.[words by Esselle, art by reallycorking.]





	The Raft

**Author's Note:**

> Next up is _Invincible Love's_ side story for _Heart of the Jungle_! This one was really fun to write from Tobio's POV.

"Can I open my eyes yet?"

"No," Tobio said, for what must have been at least the seventh time that morning. Hinata was good. Tobio knew this, and it still surprised him anew every day, all the things Hinata did to remind him of this fact. But Hinata was also not patient.

"Whyyyyy not?" Hinata asked, voice rising squeakily.

Cute, Tobio thought, but also annoying. He hiked Hinata higher up on his back, jostling him unnecessarily. Fortunately, Hinata couldn't see him laugh, which he did when Hinata let out an "Oof," as his forehead knocked against the back of Tobio's head, gently. They'd been walking for some time now, along the jungle floor. Tobio had told Hinata to close his eyes. Hinata had done so, at first carrying on a conversation mostly with himself, while Tobio listened and interjected every so often. Then he'd fallen asleep. Now he was awake, and _noisy_.

"Can I _guess_ where we're going?"

Tobio nodded, before remembering Hinata couldn't see him. "Yes." Soon, Hinata would realize where they were, anyway.

"Is it… the stream by the _fuwaaaah_ huuuge tree?"

"No," Tobio said, feeling somewhat alarmed at how poor Hinata's sense of direction was. "That's the opposite way. How—"

"The tree with all the little monkeys in it?"

Tobio frowned. "No." Those little monkeys were annoying, but they weren't cute at all. Hinata thought otherwise.

"Okay, what about the tree that—"

"Do you only know where different trees are?" Tobio demanded, staring at him over his shoulder.

"I…" Hinata started to say, but he stopped. His nose twitched. "I know where we are!"

Tobio smiled. Hinata must smell it now, the salty breeze. Or maybe he'd heard the waves softly lapping at the shore.

At the edge of the jungle, the trees opened out onto the white sands and blue-green water of a quiet cove. This, Tobio had learned, was called a beach—according to Hinata, these places were supposed to be quite romantic.

Tobio was fond of romance. He liked best the books Hinata picked out that had stories about two people falling in love, against all odds and circumstances. Because though he had known nothing about people and romance until a few short months ago, these stories seemed, to him, to be the closest to his own experiences now in life. There were not very many books about children who'd been orphaned in the jungle with only an elephant for company.

He'd learned a lot, about what people who were in love did to express their affections, and was becoming rather adept at it himself, truth be told. Today's venture, however, was a new endeavor. He hoped Hinata liked it.

"You can open your eyes, now," he said, as he set Hinata back down on the ground.

Hinata's eyes flew open. He was already beaming. "Beach day!" he shouted, delighted, tearing out across the sand. Tobio waited.

Hinata saw it as he got closer to the water—the reason Tobio had brought him here in the first place, what made the entire occasion so special. Hinata stopped in his tracks, then pointed exuberantly. He let out a squawk of surprise.

"Tobio! What is that! Is that a—"

"It's a boat," Tobio said, unable to stop himself from appearing the slightest bit smug.

For several weeks now, he'd been working. It had taken a long time to collect all the wood he needed, shape some of the rougher branches down and then truss them together with vines, all without Hinata ever getting suspicious about where he was disappearing to (Hinata was always suspicious, because he was nosy). But Tobio had finally finished it—and he was ready to show it off.

Hinata stared at it for a long moment, before covering his mouth with his hand. "Tobio, that's a raft."

Tobio tilted his head. The word "raft" was new to him—but judging by the way Hinata was covering a smile, he sensed whatever it meant, it was not as impressive as a boat. He glared.

"It's a _boat,_ " he said again. "I made it for us."

Hinata blinked at him. "For us…" He broke into a smile and Tobio's annoyance evaporated. "It's amazing!"

Tobio huffed all the same. "What's a raft?"

"It's, uh…" Hinata waved his hand. "A raft is a... small boat."

"Oh," Tobio said, appeased. "Do you want to try it out?"

Hinata cheered and turned to take off towards the raft. Tobio shot out a hand, grabbing him by the arm right before he got out of range.

"Wait!"

"What?" Hinata asked, startled.

"You didn't let me—I have to—"

"Have to what?" Hinata tilted his head. "Have you actually tested that thing out or is it going to sink the second we get on?"

Tobio _had_ tested it out, several times, but that wasn't what he'd wanted to say. "I wanted to ask you to go on a date with me!"

Hinata stared at him before, to Tobio's confusion, starting to giggle. _"Why?"_

"That's what we're supposed to do!" Tobio said. "Go on dates. Or vacations. Or to _events."_

There was nowhere he could really take Hinata on vacation. One part of the jungle was quite similar to all the rest. And there were certainly no fancy balls or masquerades to attend.

"I'm…" Had this been, in fact, a very stupid idea? The stunned look on Hinata's face was making him wonder. "I'm _trying,_ " he finished, lamely.

Hinata still looked surprised. But he took Tobio's hands in his much smaller ones, rubbing the grass ring Tobio was wearing with his finger.

"We're _married_ , Tobio," he said.

Tobio knew this. He didn't understand why that mattered. "I still wanted to do something special," he said. "Something you'd like."

Hinata's eyes lit up warm and soft. It began to seem like a much better idea again, when he leaned up to kiss Tobio. It was one of his very gentle kisses, the kind that meant Hinata had been reminded of how good Tobio was, too.

"I do like it," he said. "Let's go on a date, jungle boy."

*

The raft was seaworthy. Though Tobio's heart briefly leapt into his mouth when Hinata took a running leap straight onto it, it held firm. Hinata rolled up onto his butt and held out his arms to Tobio, gesturing to him excitedly. He seemed disappointed when Tobio took a much slower approach in climbing on the raft.

For hours, they took to the gentle waves. Tobio had made paddles for them as well, and they spent a good deal of time arguing about the best way to use them, while not managing to gain much distance or speed at all. Eventually, Hinata let Tobio do the work, as he lay on his stomach on the raft and attempted to catch fish with his bare hands. This also proved to be more or less fruitless, but Hinata seemed to be having a very good time of it.

His shoulders and cheeks and nose began to get very pink. Tobio tanned, but Hinata burned, and so Tobio decided (so as to not have the date end sorrowfully) that they should move back into the shade of the trees.

"Already?" Hinata asked plaintively.

Tobio poking one of his red cheeks was enough to convince him, as he scowled and winced. "The date isn't over, dumb Hinata," he said.

The raft was very lightweight, and Tobio carried it with them, Hinata practically skipping at his side. Soon, they came to a familiar river—and Tobio was well prepared.

Stashed at the base of one of the trees, wrapped in palm leaves, was a small feast of fruit and berries, and two large coconuts for them to split open and drink from. These came on the raft with them.

"Picnicking on our yacht," Hinata said gleefully, popping a few shiny berries in his mouth as they floated lazily downstream. "You didn't tell me this would be such a classy date! I'd've dressed better."

"You look nice," Tobio said. Hinata was wearing Tobio's favorite outfit already. It was one of the loincloths Tobio had made him. Hinata started giggling. "What is 'classy'?"

"Fancy," Hinata explained. "High society."

Tobio nodded, understanding. "Like the Bingleys."

"Exactly," Hinata said. "Or the Kardashians."

"What is a—"

"Not important," Hinata said, "come here." He tugged Tobio closer by a lock of his hair, pulling on it just enough that it almost hurt. Tobio scowled a little, which made Hinata laugh. And then, they were kissing, and Tobio would have let him get away with anything.

They could have stayed like that the rest of the day. Perhaps they would have spent even the night on the river, floating and watching the lights in the night sky twinkling every so often through the never-ending canopy of trees. But Hinata breathed a sigh into his mouth, tongue sliding teasingly against Tobio's, and he blinked his eyes open, to catch a glimpse of Hinata's fluttering lashes, the speckling brown dots covering his nose and shoulders Hinata had told him were called "freckles". As Tobio went to kiss those, too, he caught movement on the riverbank out of the corner of his eye.

He looked up, curiously, staring into the tree line.

"Tobio…?" Hinata mumbled, voice soft around the edges, heavy with contentment.

"I thought… I thought I saw…" Tobio said, narrowing his eyes. And then he saw it again—black on gold spots, prowling after the boat. "Oh, no."

"What?" Hinata asked, turning to look. His face lit up. "Oh, Tobio! She followed us! Hizumi!"

 _"No!"_ Tobio hissed, but Hinata hadn't heard him.

"Hizumi," he cooed again, clapping his hands coaxingly, as the jaguar with the crooked tail emerged from her hiding spot. "Did you miss us? Did you want to come on our date, too?"

"Not allowed," Tobio said. He had grown surprisingly attached to the spot cat they'd saved as a cub, and she to them. But Tobio's afternoon plans of river drifting and slow kissing had decidedly not included her. On the bank, Hizumi had begun to stalk them. "No," Tobio said again.

"I don't think she's listening," Hinata told him.

Tobio blanched. Since she'd been a cub, Hizumi's favorite way to greet him had involved leaping on him from all manner of surprise locations. This was usually fine, even though she'd gotten far heavier as she'd grown, but today it might pose a problem.

"Hizumi, no," Tobio ordered. Hizumi wiggled her hindquarters, her tail twitching ominously. "No. No, no, _NO—_ "

The jaguar pounced.

With a terrible _thud,_ she landed directly on Tobio, who wheezed as the wind and most of his senses were knocked out of him. Hinata screeched, the raft creaked, and then promptly came apart as the stress tore the branches loose from the vines. They sank instantly.

All three of them broke the surface with a great deal of splashing and gasping for air, mostly on Hinata's part.

"My boat!" Tobio bellowed, incensed.

"My coconut!" Hinata wailed.

They both looked at Hizumi. She had caught a fish in her mouth, and looked very pleased with herself.

Hinata burst into laughter. Tobio tried very hard to keep his furious expression intact. But it couldn't last, not with Hinata draping himself against his side, breath huffing into Tobio's neck as he nuzzled happily against it. Tobio combed fingers through his wet hair. It was past his shoulders, lying flat with the water, instead of wavy as it usually was.

"Sorry," Tobio groused, though he could feel his mouth threatening to turn up at the corners. Still so strange to him, how hard it was to keep from smiling at times, after so many years spent not knowing how to do it. It was especially difficult when Hinata was already smiling, too. He pressed his lips tightly together.

"For what?" Hinata murmured, kissing his cheek. "This is the best date anyone's ever taken me on."

"Me—" Tobio stammered, a little overwhelmed at the praise, and the fact he seemed to have been so successful, "me, too."

Hinata graciously didn't point out that it was the first and only date Tobio had ever been on, or that he'd planned it himself. In the end, even after their picnic had sunk to the bottom of the river, and they'd spent an unreasonable amount of time trying to save all the logs Tobio had used for the raft before they were swept away, he was still with Hinata, and that meant he was happy.

Tobio knew, now, that there were many things he _didn't_ know. His life so far had been simple. Past the trees, beyond the jungle, was an entire world of which he could barely dream.

But this, what he had here—a small raft and a slow current and Hinata's warmth under his hands, set apart from even the heat of the sun above—he knew that there could be nothing better in that world than in this one.

Because they were the whole of it, to each other.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> RC's **[art for this collab](http://reallycorking.tumblr.com/post/171735163404/but-this-what-they-had-herea-small-raft-and-a)** is one of my favorites ^^ It was such a soft and happy note to end the book on. 
> 
> For other projects by me and RC, check out the links below:  
> [@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter  
> [@reallycorking](http://reallycorking.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@reallycorking](https://twitter.com/reallycorking) on Twitter  
>  **Our collab blog is[@essiecorking](https://essiecorking.tumblr.com/)!**


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